BY PAUL JOHNSON
The book provides a definite answer to: ‘Did Churchill personally save Britain
5 stars out of 5 stars
According to the author, renowned historian Paul Johnson, Winston Churchill and Napoleon Bonaparte were two historic figures who had the most number of books written about them. (For full disclosure, Johnson also authored “Napoleon”).
As Churchill’s long career was multi-faceted, most books on him are rather lengthy. He was soldier, war correspondent, writer, painter, home secretary, first lord of admiralty, prime minister, and member of the House of Commons for some 64 years (both in and out of power). Each of the two-volume biography by his son Randolph is 530 pages long. The one by Roy Jenkins is a single volume, but containing 1000 pages, nonetheless.
It is indeed amazing that, in barely 166 pages, Johnson’s “Churchill” provides the reader with an easy read and informative biography covering his entire career. There are episodes which are not well known. Below are some examples, under the categories of politics, oratory, writing/painting, and humor.
Politics
- Before the Second World War, when he was still home secretary, he attended German army maneuvers. On his return, he said, “I can only thank God that there is a sea between England and Germany.” When Churchill took over the Admiralty, he built up the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. The Royal Navy kept the commercial sea lanes open, and the Royal Air Force won the Battle of Britain, forcing Hitler to abandon his plan of invading England.
- He was blamed for the failure of the Dardanelles Campaign, although he was not in command of its operation.
- He warned of the danger of Lenin’s revolution in the Soviet Union. He was blamed for not crushing it at its bud, although he did not have the authority to do so.
- He did make an error in judgment about Japan.in a letter to Prime Minister Baldwin in December 1924, he stated “…war with Japan is not a possibility which any reasonable government need to take into account.”
Oratory
Churchill most famous speeches include: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat”; “..we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds……, we shall never surrender”, “Never in the history of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”, “From Stettin in the Baltic, to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.”
In Johnson’s book, there is the following prophetic speech on British-America relations which, in my opinion, should be included among his greatest:
“The British Empire and the United States have to be somewhat mixed up together in some of their affairs for mutual and general advantage……. Looking to the future, no one can stop it. Like the Mississippi, it keeps rolling along. Let it roll. Let it roll on full flood, inexorable, irresistible, to broader lands and better days.”
Writing and Painting
In Johson’s estimate, Churchill’s total writing output was between 8 to 10 million words. His Second World War Volumes alone total 2,050,000 words, compared with Gibson’s 1,050,000 in Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953.
There was the little-known fact he was hit by a car while walking on a New York Street, presumably on the side he used to in England. He was badly hurt and was hospitalized. He wrote an article on the accident and made £800 for world rights, the largest sum he had ever received for a single piece. It was printed everywhere.
Although an amateur painter, his painting was of such quality that he was elected honorary member of the Royal Academy.
Humor
- The author, at age seventeen, had the good fortune to ask Churchill a question: “Mr. Churchill, sir, to what do you attribute your success in life?” Without pause or hesitation, he replied. “Conservation of Energy. Never stand up when you can sit down, and never sit down when you can lie down.”
- “His cigars were constantly going out and being relit rather than smoked.”
- When a secretary saddling him with the typescript of a dictated memo which included a sentence ending with a preposition, he barked, “Up with this I will not put.”
- Churchill detested Modern Art. Once he asked Sir Alfred Munnings, president of the Royal Academy, ‘Alf, if you were talking down Piccadilly, and you saw Picasso walking in front of you, what would you do?” “Kick his arsc, Mr. Churchill”. “Quite right, Alf.”
- “One time on the yacht of Aristotle Onasis, Churchill boasted that “If all the whisky and brandy I have drunk in my life was added up, it would fill this state-room to overflowing.” Professor Frederick Lindemann, who was his personal science advisor and had data of his daily intake of spirits over his lifetime, went to measure the dimensions of the ballroom and came up with the result that the saloon would be filled up to the height of five inches. While Churchill was plainly disappointed, this may account for the fact that his liver, inspected after his death, was found to be as perfect as a young child’s.
The author provided 10 of Churchill’s actions which provided a definite “Yes” to the question: “Did Churchill personally save Britain?” He ended the book by listing five ways everyone can learn from Churchill’s life. However, on the dismissal of Churchill by the British electorate in May 1940 from all further conduct of their affairs, after all he had done for the country, British historian and Churchill biographer Paul Johnson remained completely silent.
In conclusion, the book provides a definite answer to: ‘Did Churchill personally save Britain’?
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